Recently, I had the opportunity to review some parts of my past and look at them from a different point of view. We all hold long-standing beliefs based on what we've experienced during childhood and young adulthood. If you are at the point of Shifting Your Perspective in the Drive. Align. Shift. Program, you have two choices. You can decide to unpack your baggage or you can decide to repack your baggage.

Depending on what you choose, there is a huge difference in the way you move forward in life.

Unpacking your baggage is a quick way of trying to resolve past issues. It involves getting rid of those memories, limiting beliefs, family, friends, and other factors that seem to be affecting your life now. Unfortunately, you're not resolving anything, just simply avoiding it.

Repacking your baggage takes more time and effort, but makes a larger difference. It involves opening up the baggage and checking out the contents. You can take out each item, unfold it, look at it, refold it, and place it in a better spot.

Let me give you a concrete example. When I was growing up, I always felt like the ugly duckling. No one would have ever known it because I exuded confidence on every level. I made people believe that I was secure in myself and didn't let anything hold me back. Even after I became an adult and began to feel better about my appearance, that ugly duckling mentality would rear its head at key times when I should have been feeling very confident. The funny thing is that I would start to feel that way even in situations that had nothing to do with outward appearance.

If I were unpacking my baggage, I would have decided to get rid of all the memories that reminded me of being an ugly duckling - the boys that didn't like me or the people that made fun of me. This is a great way to just clear out everything painful and not have to deal with it anymore. But, it's not healthy.

Instead, I could repack my baggage and look at the memories differently. I could even take it a step further and talk with those people who made me feel that way. I had the opportunity to do this recently and realized that people weren't trying to hurt me intentionally. They had a different point of view on the experience that had nothing to do with my appearance. Repacking my baggage required more work, more time, and made me more vulnerable in having to address these items. But in the end, it was an awesome way to shift my perspective and move forward in a more confident way.

So, are you holding on to baggage that isn't serving you well? Have you completely unpacked it? Or, are you ready to start the process of repacking?

If the baggage involves other people, can you contact them to get a different perspective on the situation? If not, can you meditate on that time period in order to see it differently? Yes, it will be a more intense emotional journey, but it will help you feel freer, lighter, and have an easier time with your current place in the Universe.

Rev. Leila Johnson's book, Driving to Success: Let Your Spirit Take the Wheel, is a spiritual retreat for overachieving entrepreneurs and professionals who want to redefine the answer to "What do you want to be when you grow up?". Leila is President and Co-Owner of Data-Scribe, an information technology systems integration and modernization firm providing services to businesses, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies. As part of her journey on the road of life, Leila has earned her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and in the Metaphysical Sciences. She also holds her Master of Divinity and is an ordained reverend. Prior to starting her business, Leila worked as a call center coach, curriculum developer, and trainer in the financial and insurance industries.

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